Need Your Local Pages to Show Up In Google?

Need Your Local Pages to Show Up In Google?

So is panic the order of the day when your local site’s ranking begin to fall? We all count on ranking well in our local area, and when that ranking falls or worse, disappears entirely, it’s easy to panic.

So what do you do when your rankings begin to drop? What was previously a steady stream of leads and customers has turned into a trickle, and you don’t have a hint as to why.

Bringing your site back to its former high ranking might be a very simple solution, that can be remedied in a matter days. For some issues, it can take a bit longer. Let’s examine a few of the more likely reasons your site might have fallen in the rankings, and what there is to do about it.

Several reasons why your local rankings may have fallen

• Violating the Google Places Quality Guidelines – Fortunately for us, Google provides you a list of all the things they expect of a site to list in their local listings. If you violate these guidelines, you’ll likely find a descent in your rankings.
• Poor site information – Getting your NAP info wrong or inconsistent is a common and easily correctable error. Be sure you have accurate names, addresses and phone (NAP) information on every platform you are on. Fortunately there are several online tools to help you find any errors in this regard, and speedily fix them.
• Inadvertent duplicate content – If you have a site with multiple locations, it’s likely you have at least been tempted to re-use the same content on each site. Don’t make this mistake. Make each page unique, and avoid this altogether.
• Nothing fresh in ages – Two reasons for this: first Google likes to see fresh relevant content, and second, your competition is doing it, and you will eventually be eclipsed by them if you stand still and do nothing. Constantly seek to add new content, seek new reviews and citations, and share socially. This will benefit your site in many ways.